Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose arrived in Bahrain on April 3 to start a three-year mission in the Persian Gulf state. Montrose sailed into the UK’s new support facility in Bahrain after a six-month journey, which saw her cover 47,000-miles from her home in Plymouth. From Bahrain, she will conduct r
The BAE Systems’ Barrow-in-Furness shipyard was evacuated on April 10 after a bomb was reported to have been found on one of the Royal Navy nuclear submarines under construction at the yard. An estimated 1,700 staff are believed to have been evacuated in the process. “Following an extensive sweep of
German Navy F124 frigate FGS Hessen is scheduled to depart its Wilhelmshaven homeport on April 11 to join the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2). The air-defense frigate will replace another German vessel currently deployed to the mission in the Aegean Sea. Combat support ship Bonn deployed to
Royal Navy pilots flying UK F-35B jets in Cyprus will mark the first time in over a decade UK naval aviators are operating overseas. Two months of training in the eastern Mediterranean is lined up for the men and women of the Lightning Force in preparation for their first spell of training aboard HM
US Navy aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and ships from its carrier strike group (CSG) arrived in the US 6th Fleet area of operations on April 8, seven days after getting underway from Norfolk. The strike group, which includes the aircraft carrier, Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte
A Royal Australian Navy task group composed of a helicopter carrier, frigates, and a submarine arrived in India ahead of the start of exercise Ausindex. This is the second time India is hosting the exercise, which was first held in September 2015 at Visakhaptnam. Landing helicopter dock HMAS Canberr
The Royal Navy is set to deploy a large task group to the Baltic Sea for two months of international operations. Amphibious transport dock HMS Albion will spearhead the “Baltic Protector” mission, involving nearly 2,000 British personnel from all three services. The deployment is the first large-sca
The UK defense ministry has announced an investment of £75 million into new Royal Navy robot and autonomous mine-hunting technologies. The funding boost will be spent on two new autonomous mine-hunter vessels with sonars to enable remote mine-hunting at higher range, speed and accuracy in the Persia
Royal Canadian Navy and Spanish Navy frigate assigned to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) arrived in Odesa, Ukraine on April 1 for a routine port visit. Canadian frigate HMCS Toronto and Spanish frigate ESPS Santa Maria arrived in Odesa after patrolling in the Black Sea with fellow SNMG2 s
Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth got underway from her Portsmouth homeport on April 1 to head for Rosyth where she is scheduled to undergo her first dry-docking maintenance since entering service. The lead ship of a new class of Royal Navy aircraft carriers is starting the overhaul fo
The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new diving and hydrographic support vessel has started her journey from Norway to Auckland, New Zealand. Formerly known as offshore support vessel MV Edda Fonn, the vessel was sold by Norway’s Østensjø Rederi to the New Zealand Navy in August 2018. The vessel was modifie
Russian shipbuilder Admiralty Shipyards launched the first of a second batch of Improved Kilo-class submarines in a March 28 ceremony in St. Petersburg. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky will also be the first Project 636.3 to be built for the Vladivostok-based Pacific Fleet. The first six units in the class
Royal Navy auxiliary landing ship dock RFA Mounts Bay served as the test bed for a mobile US Navy minehunting force during a recent test off the coast of Virginia. The test included helicopters, divers, remote-controlled boats and automated surveying machines and was intended to see whether a task f
The Netherlands’ Defense Material Organization (DMO) procurement agency has awarded Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards Den Helder (DSDH) a contract to design, build and deliver a prototype expeditionary survey boat (ESB) for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The ESB is to be optimized for rapid environment
